Whether you’re a business owner or an employee, doing repetitive tasks manually is probably one of the most tedious and inefficient things you’ll ever do. Not only does this reduce your productivity, but it also wastes your time and effort.
Thanks to workflow automation tools, it’s now possible to automate mundane tasks, like data entry, lead nurturing, and accounting, so that you can focus on creative work or making strategic decisions.
According to a survey report, 2 out of 3 knowledge workers say automation has helped them be more productive at work. And nearly all of them said it has improved people’s lives in the workplace.
Businesses run a lot of processes daily. Although some of them require human intervention, most can be automated with the help of workflow automation tools.
This is why I’ve decided to compile a list of the best workflow automation software options and am ready to share the information on how to use them.
Let’s dive in!
Outline:
What is workflow automation software?
A workflow is a business process that takes a series of tasks to be completed. Usually, it involves people, information, or systems, and has a start and end date.
Workflow automation software is an application used to automate business processes. It’s usually used by organizations that have repetitive, time-consuming, or resource-intensive processes.
This software can be used for a wide range of applications such as to improve employee productivity or optimize resource utilization. Whether it’s finance, marketing, or IT, workflow automation tools can free all departments of their manual processes.
Here are 13 different workflow automation platforms that can be used in your business, including Zapier, KissFlow, Nintex, Snov.io, and many more.
13 best workflow automation tools in 2024
1. Snov.io
Snov.io is an outreach automation platform that offers several tools for deal management, lead generation, email verification, email sending, and email tracking.
With Snovio, you can easily scale your outreach process with personalized triggered email drip and increase your conversions. It can also assist your team in finding more leads, verifying contacts, tracking your leads’ progress, and automating cold outreach.
Additionally, this platform comes with a free CRM that lets you build custom pipelines, manage deals, and grow revenue without extra expense! You can also sync your data with over 2,000+ sales and marketing tools for complete workflow control.
Pricing: Snov.io provides a free, renewable plan with 50 monthly credits and 100 drip campaign recipients. Paid plans start at $39 per month.
2. Zapier
Zapier is a beginner-friendly automation platform that helps 3,000+ applications work together. It connects two or more apps to automate tasks that would usually be done manually. It’s easy to set up, and the possibilities are endless!
With Zapier, you can build Zaps in a few clicks by using thousands of pre-crafted templates from lead generation to social media marketing. Zapier allows you to customize automated solutions based on your team’s needs by adding multiple steps and workflow logic.
Pricing: Zapier offers a free plan that includes access to existing applications and 100 tasks per month to build one-to-one connections with your apps. Paid plans start from $19.99 per month.
3. Nintex
Nintex is a low-code workflow and automation software platform for any department and industry. Through Nintex Workflow, businesses can automate critical processes and ultimately gain insights to improve and save time.
Nintex platform is used by more than 10,000 organizations to manage, automate, and optimize their business processes. Moreover, it has over 1 billion workflows running each year, which, on average, save 3 minutes every time they are run.
It also features a browser-based drag-and-drop environment for creating business workflows without requiring any coding expertise.
Pricing: The standard Nintex workflow pricing starts at $910 per month for 10 workflows with unlimited users. There’s also a 30-day free trial period.
4. Kissflow
Kissflow is an end-to-end workflow automation software that allows users to create custom workflows and manage projects from one integrated platform.
It offers a simple user interface with drag-and-drop editing and a user-friendly workflow visualization. With custom dashboards and reports, Kissflow provides insights into workflow processes, giving you exactly the information you need.
By using APIs, WebHooks, and Zapier integrations, you can connect all your technology into one place and receive notifications about all your processes. Among the most popular workflow tools on the market, Kissflow is easy to use and reasonably priced.
Pricing: Users can access the cloud software for $12 per user per month, and this includes the workflow designer and automated workflow routing. If you aren’t ready to commit to the service, you can try out a free trial first.
5. Integrately
Integrately is an easy-to-use integration platform that provides its users with millions of ready-to-use ‘1 click’ automations.
You can automate your lead generation, from the initial prospecting stage to the final sale using Integratelyo in just a few clicks!
For example, you can automate your lead generation scenarios like :
- Send a follow-up message to every new lead signing up on your website.
- Add new leads into your CRM in real-time, without any manual effort.
- Update the sales representative for each new lead generated.
- Schedule a meeting with t
- he new lead once added in CRM.
- Set up automatic reminders for follow-ups.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $19.99 per month. There’s also a 14-day free trial period.
6. Comidor
Comidor is a low-code hyperautomation platform for fast-growing businesses that has a presence in 13 countries, serving more than 500 clients globally.
Comidor workflow automation software provides a user-friendly, model-driven environment for business users. With its help, you can drag-and-drop components to create all types of business workflows and automate them from start to finish using complex RPA/AI tools.
Create AI-enabled workflows and employ intelligent bots to mimic repetitive human behaviors, forecast outcomes, classify attitudes, scan documents, and strengthen decision-making. Furthermore, leverage real-time analytics to track and analyze the performance of each workflow.
Pricing: Comidor offers different pricing plans suitable for every organization. The packages cover all business needs without limitations on solution deployment, the number of users, project size, and complexity. The pricing plans start as low as $8 per user per month.
7. Automate.io
Automate.io is a cloud-based automation software that helps you automate tasks like email marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, lead generation, lead nurturing, sales prospecting, etc. It also lets you manage your tasks, collaborate with your team, and get real-time reports.
Automatic.io provides reliable and secure solutions where data is encrypted both at rest and in transit. It integrates with over 200 popular tools, including Gmail, ZenDesk, Salesforce, Google Sheets, PayPal, and many others.
Pricing: Automate.io’s free plan allows you to utilize 300 actions monthly and up to 5 single action bots for one team member. Personal plans start at $9.99 per month, charged annually.
8. Flokzu
Flokzu is a cloud-based business process management software that lets organizations automate repetitive workflows. Through its low-code interface, you can configure and track all of your business processes. Flokzu allows you to create tasks, deadlines, business rules, and notifications.
It helps you manage pending tasks, define alerts, and integrate with other systems, eliminating the need for complex spreadsheets. Furthermore, Flozku offers a dashboard that displays your business processes’ performance and metrics. As a result, you will be able to refine and optimize your workflows going forward.
Pricing: Flozku has a starter plan for $50 per month for unlimited users and up to 50 process instances per month.
9. Integrify
Integrify is a business process and workflow management software that automates repetitive tasks so that your employees can focus on real value-add work. It improves the accuracy of critical processes and helps companies stay in compliance with internal and external regulations.
The platform is easy to use and has a drag-and-drop editor for most workflows. In addition to providing software to automate tasks, Integrify also offers experienced consulting/implementation services to help users with their digital transformation.
With this software, you can improve process visibility in areas such as finance, operations, sales, and HR, replacing manual workflows. While companies like Kissflow and Flokzu provide simple workflow tools for small businesses, Integrify primarily caters to mid-size and enterprise companies.
Pricing: Integrify offers flexible subscription-based pricing that comes with unlimited forms, processes audit trials, and dashboards on every plan.
10. IFTTT
IFTTT is an acronym for If This, Then That, and it’s a useful tool to help you perform actions automatically, create an alert, and connect your accounts and apps. For example, you can create a recipe so that every time you put a new photo on Facebook, IFTTT can automatically save a copy to Dropbox.
It allows users to create chains of simple conditional statements, called “Applets.” These Applets execute simple tasks when specified conditions are met.
Pricing: IFTTT offers a free plan that allows you to build 3 Applets. Paid plans start at $3.33 per month.
11. Integromat
Integromat is a powerful integration platform that allows small and medium business owners to visualize, and automate their workflows.
Its drag-and-drop interface lets you connect multiple apps. Using routers, you can divide your scenario into multiple routes, each of which can then be processed differently. Furthermore, you can also filter the data passing through those routes.
With Integromat, users can integrate data from apps and services not supported by the platform directly, such as JSON and APIs.
Pricing: Intregomat offers a free plan with up to 1,000 operations, while paid plans start at $9 per month for up to 10,000 operations.
12. Coupler.io
Coupler.io is a data integration service to refine data manipulation and management within organizations. With it, you can sync information between apps and platforms automatically or by request. It’s a no-code tool with an intuitive interface.
The service allows exporting data from HubSpot, Trello, Shopify, and 15 more popular platforms and keeping it in one place as a backup option or building dashboards and importing data to other services. You can use existing integrations or create a custom one.
Also, you can automatically sync information between sheets and databases, e.g., export Airtable to Excel, import Google Sheets to BigQuery, and more.
Pricing: Coupler.io’s free plan allows 100 data runs per month with a maximum of 1,000 rows per run for an unlimited number of users. Paid plans start with $24 per month with increased limits of data runs, import sizes, and faster data refresh.
13. Scribe
Scribe is a tool that automates the documentation of your workflows. It captures your screen as you complete the process, then turns your clicks and keystrokes into screenshots and written instructions.
It’s a free Chrome extension or paid desktop application that allows unlimited use for individuals or teams. It pairs perfectly with workflow automation tools, letting SMEs instantly document their step-by-step process to be automated.
Scribes can be shared via a link or embedded in a CMS, wiki, help center, or project management tool.
Pricing: Scribe’s Chrome extension is free with unlimited use. The Pro plan is $29 per month per user and allows desktop recording, screenshot editing, and other features.
Why do you need workflow automation tools?
Let’s face it, we all get busy, and we all have too much to do. Sometimes it can feel like we are drowning in our work, and there are never enough hours in the day. That’s why it’s important to manage your time effectively and find ways to automate some of your work.
The best way to improve your business process is to automate internal tasks and free up your schedule. Workflow automation can save you time and reduce the stress that you may experience from using inefficient systems. For example, a business could use automation to schedule and share social media posts on multiple platforms and monitor their performance.
Automation also has a positive effect on business operations because it helps companies save on additional efforts that would’ve been spent on hiring more people. 97% of employees and executives believe that a lack of alignment within a team impacts the project outcome. Automation helps improve team collaboration, from syncing departmental apps to automating a long process like onboarding and reporting.
Another great benefit of workflow automation is that it doesn’t require any programming or coding knowledge. As a result, even marketers and people who are not technically savvy can easily build workflows that streamline processes.
According to Zapier report, some of the most common use cases for automated workflows include:
- Reducing manual data entry. This includes copying and pasting data between platforms or databases.
- Organizing and creating documents, including creating meeting invites, to-do lists, etc.
- Managing leads and following up with them.
- Managing inventory and distribution.
How does workflow automation work?
In most workflow automation tools, triggers are based on a series of if/then statements. As an example, let me walk you through the process in which a lead magnet sign-up becomes a deal prospect from start to finish:
- A website visitor clicks on a lead magnet on the page and enters their email address.
- After that, the visitor is automatically added to a drip campaign and sent a copy of the lead magnet.
- In the second campaign email, the visitor is invited to attend a free online webinar. Once the lead clicks on the link, they are sent a confirmation email with webinar details.
- Lastly, leads who attended the webinar are automatically assigned a sales representative. The sales rep then contacts them directly to complete the process.
Need some more automation examples? I’ve got you covered:
- Sending commerce order confirmations and shipping notifications to customers after they have made a purchase using Parabola.
- Sending out automated drip campaigns at each stage of the sales funnel using Snov.io.
- Notifying your team about new leads and reaching out to them personally using Automate.io.
- Creating a new support ticket when someone reaches out through social media platforms using Integromat.
- Saving files and media to the cloud when you receive them via email using Zapier.
- Recording time spent on work activities and generating reports to calculate payroll using Traqq.
- And lastly, my favorite one — getting a notification when the International Space Station passes over your house using IFTTT.
There are plenty of apps out there that can help you automate your workflow. All you have to do is choose the right one for your business needs.
Workflow automation isn’t just for large companies with multiple business processes; small businesses can also benefit from it. In fact, small businesses have a better chance of competing with larger ones by leveraging workflow automation tools.
In conclusion
Every business or individual performs a number of tasks on a daily or regular basis. Some tasks may be basic, while others may be complex, but the bottom line remains the same – if it can be automated, then it should be.
Today, workflow automation tools are widely used in many types of industries for a variety of purposes, from updating social media feeds to coordinating marketing campaigns. Workflow automation ensures these tasks are carried out in a fashion that they are repeatable, efficient, and consistent.
Very useful. Thank you for sharing!